Fliers with contorted acrobats and a smiling clown posted across the city of Waukegan display Labor Day weekend showtimes for the Kelly Miller Circus at the Belvidere Discount Mall. But the circus will not be coming to town.

Citing traffic nightmares and large crowds that spill over beyond the shopping center confines on Belvidere Road and Lewis Avenue, Ald. Patrick Seger, 2nd, said he’s “pulling the plug on that type of entertainment” at that location.

The Waukegan City Council voted 8-0 last week to deny the circus its petition to perform outside of the Belvidere Discount Mall from Friday, Sept.1 through Labor Day on Sept. 3.

Ald. Larry TenPas was absent.

Adding that as a member of the city’s public safety committee, he sees large crowds near an already busy intersection as a safety concern, Seger said he will continue to vote “no” on the circus at that location in the future.

“I will not vote on any of these events at Belvidere Mall,” Seger said Monday.

Agreeing with the safety arguments was Ald. Greg Moisio, 3rd, who said he will also vote against “any more carnivals” at the Belvidere Discount Mall.

Moisio had a number of reasons denying the circus petition. One of them being that in their application it showed they would be there until 11 p.m. on Labor Day, although times on the circus fliers show their last performance to start at 5 p.m.

“They just didn’t have their ducks in order,” Moisio said of the confusion with the schedule.

During Monday’s City Council meeting, Moisio also said that events, such as the circus, are a “money-suck” on communities and that free or less expensive functions would be best-suited to be hosted at the Lakefront.

“I’m not poo-pooing gatherings, but it seems to me that loud events with lots of people would be better by the lake, where there are no neighbors to disturb,” Moisio said.

Seger also cited complaints of noise at the mall’s outdoor events from nearby residents.

But large crowds generated by events such as the circus are what helps keep businesses at the Belvidere Discount Mall alive, said Bob Klairmont, vice president of the Imperial Realty Company, which owns the shopping center.

“I was shocked to hear the city denied the the circus because I think this hurts everyone,” Klairmont said.

The discount retail center, which opened in 1965 as Lake County’s first enclosed shopping mall, according to records, was once a vibrant retail plaza with anchor tenants like Montgomery Ward.

Since then, it’s gone through renovations and facelifts to keep up with the times. Now a discount mall, Klairmont said it houses 32 tenants in its 300,000 square-foot building with many empty sites.

Celina Montesino co-owns a candy shop called “Dulceria Lupita” at the mall. She’s been a tenant for seven years and said it’s true that events like the circus bring in foot traffic.

“People from other places outside Waukegan come to the circus. They walk in (the mall) and find out we’re here. If they like what we have, they come back another time,” Montesino said, adding that every little bit helps.

According to the circus website, shows are scheduled in Vernon Hills from Sept. 7 and 8.

Jim Royal, executive director of the Kelly Miller Circus, said a show at the Round Lake Beach Cultural and Civic Center on Sept. 9 has now been added in lieu of the Waukegan performances.

In an email, Royal said the circus “comes to small towns and big cities across the United States. It is welcomed back to these communities annually because it provides wholesome live family entertainment. At all venues, the circus complies will all local requirements regarding safety.”